Dragonfly

2:08:26

1/2m swim :21
Water was PERFECT :) Race was a wave start w/ all females together...I wasn't quite ready when the horn blew...stopped after 5 strokes to start my watch..then went hard to catch up. After a minute I kinda got freaked for a sec- guess I went too hard. I quickly recovered & started counting my strokes.( I count 10 strokes then sight) I finished strong but disappointed that I wasn't totally prepared at the beginning. lesson learned

18m bike 1:01
Flat course w/ one monster hill before turn around at mile 8 (good times)! I thought I'd be faster on flats but I realize now that it's more constant effort than on rolling hills where you get some breaks. Tougher than I thought- overall felt strong & enjoyed the ride

4m run  :41
Run was hot (derrr-Memphis area). Course was in & out with 1 mile flat road which led into woods for 2 miles (yes w/ a few big hills which I walked up) and then ended on the mile road. I did first mile 9m pace which was too fast in the sun..I slowed down & finished the trails with a consistent pace & picked up last mile to pass some of my age groupers :) I didn't write down my race plan with this race and I realized I wasn't as focused or prepared.

Memphis In May Olympic Tri

2:56:51 was my time in the Triathlon, YAY, I made my goal of under 3 hours!  Here are the splits:

1.5K swim   32 minutes
40K bike   1:19
10K run     1:01

I feel confident that I was well trained and ready for this race.  I was relaxed during the entire race.  I hydrated tons before the swim and on the bike. The heat was horrible; so many people had to pull out for heat related issues.  My race plan, which I did several days before, was very helpful.  I'm glad I had it, the day before I was so disorganized trying to get ready for the race.  I'm glad I had it written down when I was relaxed and able to concentrate.  The plan consisted of goal times, nutrition, gear, after race clothes, etc.  I also detailed reminders as far as what to do at the vehicle and what to do in the transition area.  I was second to last age group entering the water, I thought this would be a mental defecit but I was okay coming out of the water to an almost empty transition area.  I passed lots of swimmers and that gave me the confidence that I needed.  I rocked my T1 time (thanks to the transitions buckets).  I started the bike a little wobbly...almost veered in the grass while I was clipping in..but I recovered gracefully.  I started just behind a guy wearing a local team jersey, he was my rabbit, I had him in my sight the entire race-it took me 18 miles to catch him and that was because he slowed to eat...of course, he passed me again but I finished right behind him!  I was really pleased with my consistency on the bike.  I rocked my T2 also (I was so happy to sit on my bucket to put on my shoes).  The run was hilly and HOT.  The last 1/4 mile was on the levee around the lake, I knew when I saw the water I would be in it in a few moments!  I finished strong with all my friends cheering near the finish line.  Shoes off...in the water,  ahhhh! One of the best days of my life!!!

3 Days until Memphis In May Trialthon

Olympic distance Tri is only 3 days away and I've been fighting a virus due to my "carrier monkey kids", God love em!  Luckily, I only had a mild case (and passed it on to Lynell as well-SO sorry-dang pretzels).  Rachel recommended Race Day Boost by Hammer- THANK YOU CURLY GIRL, I am feeling SO much better today. I am confident I will be 100% by Sunday.  Not only did she recommend them, she gave me some- wOOt wOOt!!  I'm putting those on my pre-race training plan from now on.  Thank goodness this was taper week because I haven't felt like doing much.  Got an open water swim in & a couple spin bike sessions.  I'm a little worried about my run, my foot is better but I haven't gotten my training up to par yet.  Everyone says that biking will make you a stronger runner....guess we'll find out Sunday.  I just found out that some of my family are coming in to see the race (yay Brock, Betsy, Drake & Matt) I'm psyched!!!
I just got back from Kindergarten music program...ADORABLE- the excitement on their faces..precious.
Can't believe tomorrow is the last day of school...
Okay, weather looks awesome for race weekend yayayayayaya!!!

Sat..cheer on friends doing Sprint race
        expo & packet pickup
        practice swim
Sun.. RACE DAY

See ya after the race :)

Mother's Day May 9th

Perfect gift for a Triathlete Mom...Bike Accessories...my bike got a tune up, new aerobars, and new blue tape!!! Ohhh, we are SO ready to race!

Insanity

I've been hearing so much about P90X and Insanity lately that I had to jump on the bandwagon today- I ordered INSANITY.  One of my Ironmates on dailymile has started a group for us to follow and encourage each other! I'm hoping it will be a good addition to my swim, bike, run training.  I'm so excited to get started- hopefully it will arrive in time for me to begin the workout on Monday...I'll keep you posted!

Cinco De Mayo Pub Run

A local run store Breakaway Running hosted a Pub Run to celebrate Cinco de Mayo!  What a blast.  I headed to the start with Rebecca, Holly and Lynell.  We started out running by the TV station so they could get a quick shot of all the crazy runners in bright yellow shirts!  It was a 4 mile run with 3 beer/tequilla stops.  Needless to say, the pace slowed down near the end of the run.  A few of us girls took a detour and stopped by the local tattoo parlor to get ear piercings (hoops in the cartilage)!  I already have one so it wasn't me....just sayin'!  After the run, we continued the celebration with some yummy Mexican food thanks to Daniel!

King of the Hill Sprint Triathlon: May 1

I woke up to tornado sirens at 4:15 on Race Day!  Sooo,  I get my tri suit on as I'm watching the weather channel with all the RED over the Memphis area.  We all decide quickly that we're going (we already have our tri suits on & it's the first race of the season....derrrr)  Of course, we hoped the storm would blow over by the time we drive the 2 hours  to Tupelo, Mississippi.  We got lucky, the weather was clear for our race, unlike most of west and middle Tennessee.  At home, near Memphis, we had record breaking rainfall and the flooding was horrendous. But that's another story, back to the first tri of the season.  We quickly got checked in (I changed to age-grouper from relay- Rebecca couldn't make it) got race bag, got marked, got transition area set up...Ready to race!

Swim (17:29) The half mile swim course started by swimming past a pier then a left turn toward the buoys set in a rectangle pattern.  Not sure the water temp but I felt fine in my wetsuit after about 50 yards once my face got used to the water.  Everyone swam head up until we passed the pier, which helped me relax and not start out too fast.  Lynell swam with me & I think we must have swam an extra 100 yards due to snaking all over the place ***must work on sighting***

Bike(1:09:25) 20 mile bike was hills and wind...not much more to say.  God put a huge hill at mile 18.5 just to test my endurance!

Run(34:44) 3.6 mile run consisted of a loop with ...yep, more hills! Since it was my longest post stress fracture run, I walked up some hills! Hey,  I'm just glad to be running again!

overall time 2:06 1st place age group! I must admit that Lynell really beat me though, she hung back a few times with me (yay both of us)!!!  Race bling!